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Salvation at a Young Age

I was raised in a Christian home, by parents who had been saved only about 5 years before my own birth. We attended a few Nazarene churches in Colorado until I reached school age. I had asked the Lord to be my Saviour at the age of three while alone in my bed. I never forgot that moment, though due to my age, I did battle with doubts later on. God gave me complete assurance of my salvation, but it was not until I was well into college, a fact I will address below.

Christian School Influence

In a leap of faith, my parents decided to try an independent, fundamental Baptist school, which was a tremendous change from my older sister's public school upbringing. This single decision was one of the most profound in my own life and that of my family's. (God used what I and my younger brother learned there to move my parents to become independent, fundamental Baptists as well. They did not make the entire change though until I was in college.)

Church Transition

As time progressed my heart was pulled away from the Nazarene church and I eventually joined the Baptist church (of which the Baptist school was a ministry).

Christian College & Its Positive Influence

I did respond to light occasionally, but I still had a good bit of rebellion and pride in me. I wrestled against my parents' desire for me to go to a Christian college. Praise the Lord, they did not give up though! They placed me at Pensacola Christian College, which proved to be another turning point in my life. God used the regular preaching of His Word and Bible classes to awaken me to Him in a very profound way! I realized that I needed to follow Him with a much more serious frame of mind. I learned that God is not the "partying God" that the CCM movement proclaims Him to be (which was a movement that had strongly influenced me). He is holy, omnipotent, omniscient and eternal. His choices are His prerogative. I am entitled to nothing. This transformed my entire attitude before Him.

Surrender & Calling

Interestingly, two weeks before my freshman year, I opened my heart up to God and offered my life to Him, in what I imagined was a full surrender. It was in that moment that I responded to the call of missions. As I prayed, Brazil came to my mind. I actually told the Lord that I did not know where that was, but I would find out!

I struggled telling people about this. In fact, I remained a computer science major at college for the first semester, because of doubt. God, however, would not let me go. I completely surrendered, demonstrating this to God by changing my major to missions.

Two Years of Darkness

Sadly, I went through two very dark years in the midst of all this excitement. My freshman and sophomore years were plagued with doubts, primarily because of the textual issue. Since my family had long used the NASB and other versions, I was quite alarmed by how these versions were criticized at college. It bothered me that these teachers would claim that only the KJV was a fit translation in the English language. With my rebellious nature, I rejected that teaching, and actually chose the alternative--that the Bible had a measure of error, being corrupted over time. Oh, what a dreadful error! From that point forward, for two years I could not get anything comforting from the Bible. In fact, when preachers would proclaim that the Bible is a book of hope, I would ask, "How, if I cannot trust that every word is the Word of God?"

As I look back on that time of my life, I see haunting darkness. It was an awful experience, a time in which all hopes to find hope were tripped up by doubt. Plus, I feared that if I was truly doubting the Bible, then I must be doubting Christ, and if so, logically I was not demonstrating faith sufficient for salvation. No faith means no Heaven! Every time I envisioned Hell it was a great horror to me. My thoughts plagued me day after day. I wanted to believe the Bible, that it was in fact the Word of God, but my rebellion had led me into deeper and deeper confusion. Now, instead of simply humbling myself and even seeking the counsel of the teachers who had told me the KJV was trustworthy, I refused. I chose rather to weather this storm on my own, and come to terms with what the Bible really was, who Christ really was and what I was. In this rebellion, however, fear did not hide itself. In fact, my rebellious choice to go at it alone was also part due to the fact that I fearfully did not want people to know my inner turmoil. Looking back, I suppose I hoped to find the answers to my questions alone and then secretly come out of my darkness on solid ground; no one would be the wiser.

The horror and confusion intensified. (I now believe) a God-authored blindness kept me from from coming immediately to the light. I wanted to find concrete evidence that the Bible was true, but I kept going in circles. I would read the critics and find myself unable to answer their remarks. Sometimes I would read for hours just trying to find some faint glimmer of hope in the veracity of Scripture. God knew what He was doing, and instead of satisfying my hunger, He kept away from me what I needed, and continued to make the void larger and larger.

Eventually, I began to wonder about core Christian doctrine, like Christ's deity. I hunted for it through the gospel records, and amazingly could not find it. I thought, "Have we all been fooled? Does the Bible never clearly teach He is God?" God, of course, continued to hide the answer to this question from me. The Lord was weeding my heart, so that when the good seed finally entered, it would find good soil in which to grow.

I wanted Christ but I was not sure if I could trust of Him. I wanted to believe He was God, but when it came to actually seeing it concretely in Scripture, I just could not find it. At this point, as I longed to find the Bible to be inerrant and Christ to be God, but failing to come up with solid evidence, I began to wonder about my perception of anything and everything. I began to doubt everything. I had painted myself into a corner, a corner I feared would somehow fall off the face off the earth straight into Hell. Of course, one may wonder how a person could want Christ so much and yet fail to recognize Him after reading the Bible for hours upon hours. I am convinced though that God was breaking me down to make me a useful vessle for Him.

Things got worse as I began to listen to the voices of rationalism. I wondered how I could actually know there was a God; in fact, I wondered how I could know if I existed! In desperation I would go again and again to the college library and devour books on the subject. I wanted to read the critics and I wanted to read the apologists. I had no idea that God was using this to develop me into a reader. At the time, my mind was consumed with finding answers to my deepest questions. I did not even realize how much I had read; it was a journey through a storm out of which I soon feared I would never escape.

God Breaks Through

God broke through my rebellious heart the summer after my sophomore year. I was in my father's study, praying, begging God to show Himself to me. Dying for fear so to speak of what was true and what was not. (My doubts had not just led me away from complete confidence in the Bible, but from complete confidence in anything!) I remember closing my eyes in prayer. When I had finally opened them, I saw the same world around me I had seen before closing my eyes, but this time I suddenly realized this world is the creation of God, the world that He had marvelously formed with His own infinite wisdom. I immediately realized He had to be real, and the Bible had to be true!

God let the scales fall from my eyes and everything I had already been looking at suddenly came into focus. I knew unquestionably that all my preceeding doubts had been unfounded. Suddenly, the beauty of common things became more apparent. I remember looking out the windows in that study, seeing the sky, trees and grass. It all simply seemed so much sweeter, as I was finally convinced they had been created by God--for me.

This led to an immediate question. I asked myself, "What does all this imply?" Or, that is, as God is true and Christ is His Son, how ought that to impact the way I live my life? The reality of God began to infiltrate all my thoughts. The dark clouds scattered, never to return!

A New Search, not for Truth, but in the Truth

By the grace of God, I began to pore over my Bible, commentaries, dictionaries, etc. I wanted to know all there was to be known about God and the Bible. Now, I was no longer reading the Bible in doubt, but in faith, and what seemed so dark and dreary became bright, full of life, wonder and hope! Daily I saw more and more the Bible’s emphasis on the complete sufficiency of Christ’s work on the cross and resurrection for our salvation. It was absolutely thrilling!

When I returned to college, all the preaching seemed richer, the music seemed more beautiful and holiness became important to me. I finally knew what it was to rest in the Lord.

Sanctification

Of course, this journey into the heart and mind of God revealed to me my utter sinfulness more than I had ever seen it before, and my life realized many changes. I gave up so many forms of humor, ways of talking, types of music, etc.

Marriage

Not only that but it was in my latter half of college that I met Julie, now my wife. She had been raised in a preacher's home, and their conservative stand really helped to sharpen me. Her conscientiousness has helped me to see the strengths in others and the faults in myself--a task which is quite a reverse from my natural character!

She agreed to be a missionary with me. That was in 2000. We were married in VA in 2001.

Early Ministry & Proving

We worked together at a Baptist church in Petersburg. It was there I learned more than ever about serving God by the power of His Holy Spirit alone. Now, this was very painful; it was a constant attack on my self-confidence. I had learned a lot in college, but I still had not fully grasped what it was to look to God alone in ministry. God ground me to powder. I was on proving ground again. Through this very trying time, I sought God, and He led me to seminary. After much prayer and discussion, the Lord led my wife and I to choose Crown in Knoxville, TN.

Our Sending Church & Ministry in Tennessee

What a tremendous show of mercy and grace! I knew literally nothing about Crown College, Crown Seminary, Dr. Clarence Sexton or the Temple Baptist Church, but in God's providence He brought us there, and we are absolutely grateful! As we visited, the Lord spoke directly to my heart and made it clear that I was to be under the ministry of Pastor Sexton. Little did I know that he would hire me one year later to develop curriculum for the Crown Seminary, as well as work on numerous other projects. Our total time there began in fall of 2002. While earning my M. Div. I was able to see Temple Baptist Church become my church home and eventually my sending church.

Divine Appointment for a Ministry Partnership

God works in ways far better than we expect. When I had called Crown to enquire about the Seminary initially, I spoke with the secretary. She was a kind lady, and very helpful. I expressed my interests and I relayed to her that I was called to be a missionary to Brazil. She was ecstatic, because her husband just so happened to be an MK from Brazil and hoped to return one day. Her name is Amanda and her husband is Jeremy Tyler. They are now here with us in Brazil! There at Temple Baptist we spent much time praying together, soulwinning and discussing missionary work. God used this to unite our hearts in our missionary philosophy. Though we are very different people, we see eye-to-eye on missionary work. Acts 14:21-23 became the framework of our philosophy, utilizing the 8 verbs in those verses.

From a Bud to a Blossom

While helping Pastor Sexton at Crown Seminary and eventually Crown College also, we had much discussion about missions. I remember watching my dreams about missionary work develop under his tutelage. I began to see that though my ministry ideas were a bud, the blossom had not yet come forth. He revealed so much about God to me, that my vision for the work broadened more than I ever imagined possible. Principally, I became aware that world evangelism does not stop with a missionary going to the field; that is where it begins. I now hope to reach the world through Brazil.

Eventually, I was teaching in the Crown College, the Crown Seminary and coordinating the mission program. This was a tremendously instructive time. I have been drawing from these experiences ever since.

Sending Church

I had especially been impressed to go directly through a local church to the foreign field, without a board. This is exactly where the Lord was leading our pastor! And so, we went ahead with it! Our ministry partner, Jeremy and his family, did the same thing. Now there are other missionaries being sent out of our church the same way.

Dr. Keen

Right when I was transitioning out of the ministry God was bringing in Dr. Charles Keen. It was such a pleasure to have Pastor Sexton teach me so much about pastoral work and then to have Dr. Keen educate me in numerous matters in regards to world evangelism. He was instrumental in getting the newly developed mission program of our church off the ground, which was a special blessing to our family and ministry.

Children

During our time in Knoxville, God gave us three wonderful children. And, since coming to Brazil, we have had our fourth! Their names are Selina, Gabriel, Elijah and Christian. They have been such a blessing and our prayer is that they will each come to Christ and join us with all their hearts that we might truly serve Christ together.

Deputation

In 2007 I made the decision to begin deputation. God immediately brought people along to support us. It was a marvelous time. We were treated like royalty.

We made some specific commitments to God and He allowed us to leave the US for the field on December 28th, 2009. We traveled extensively in the east and the Illinois area, but we were also able to get out as far as Phoenix. This was a great time to hone my preaching skills and practice what I preach. All in all, it was a proving ground designed by God in preparation for the busyness of missionary life on the field.

Internet Ministry is Born

Now, back in 2007 I attended our pastor's July "Pastors' College." In that meeting our pastor said, "We should be doing anything we can to reach the lost!" That immediately got me to thinking. I am here in Knoxville, what am I doing to reach Brazil now? Awe, the Internet! And, so was born (through more miracles) our first website www.ConhecendoDeus.com.br (Knowing God). This website is strictly about knowing God through Christ in salvation, and has seen an amazing amount of hits. We immediately started seeing Brazilians visit. Now, every week we are answering questions from folks all throughout Brazil, some who have questions about their salvation, others who are hurting, others who have particular sins, etc. Brazil itself is a very religiously confused country, and these types of questions coming at us are to be expected. We are so grateful to God we have means of facilitating answers!

In the midst of this Internet effort www.BraziltotheUttermost.com was born. This site is intended to keep our supporters in touch with what is going on, on a more day to day basis (through our blog which is occasionally updated throughout the month), as opposed to our general prayer letters that are sent out monthly.

We also are interested in engaging the Independent Fundamental Baptist community in Brazil in deeper fellowship and service. This has given rise to a few more websites that are still in the works. We hope these will facilitate interaction and productivity throughout the country and around the world.

Current Responsibilities and Ministry

I have completed language school, but my wife is set to be done in May. (I finished early because I obtained advanced standing do to prior language studies.)

We have been using this time to get to know the churches in the São Paulo area, to learn the language and to integrate into the culture. This has involved a tremendous amount of paperwork, which essentially has not stopped since we arrived, but we trust is soon to be completed. We have already obtained our permanent visa protocols! Now we just wait to receive the official documentation.

Since I was able to move quicker on the language, this opened doors for evangelism, teaching and preaching opportunities. For some time now I have had opportunities in various churches to present God's Word, both by sermons and lessons in Bible institutes. I have also been able to lead several people to Christ and see some even come to church! This has been a great encouragement!

The subject of my preaching has been of great concern to me. Brazilians as a whole are not readers, and worse yet, of the small amount of decent literature available, one must carefully weed through a lot of corruption. Even though many good books have been produced, they do not continue to stay in print. I have, therefore, gone about writing out what I teach and preach (in Portuguese, of course) to fill in gaps I find along the way. This includes anything from polemics to the Baptist Distinctives. Jeremy and I have also developed a quarterly e-magazine to help facilitate reading, writing, and Bible study among believers here.

We have also had the opportunity to meet with missionaries, national pastors and publishing houses to discuss these matters. God is opening doors and we are hoping to see much fruit in the near future!

I had been burdened for months to have a weekly prayer meeting for revival among the Independent Baptist missionaries in our area. Finally, the opportunity arose on Thanksgiving day of 2010 to present it to them. They all had interest in it, and so on Monday nights we meet for two hours to seek God in prayer. The fellowship has been very precious! It is such a wonderful thing when God initiates something and we act upon it.

Our Current Long-Term Goal

Our goal is to get to a city far north of here: Porto Velho. We believe that this strategic location fits our philosophy, which is, not merely coming to Brazil to reach Brazil, but actually to reach the world through Brazil. We want to heavily emphasize in our church planting that each church reproduces and has a goal to one day send missionaries worldwide. Porto Velho is a city very central, not to Brazil, but to South America. Furthermore, it is nestled among one of the largest populations of completely uncontacted people groups in the world. We would love to see the churches we plant reach their own people, and also these indian tribes, the surrounding Spanish-speaking countries, and eventually the uttermost part of the earth.

What Keeps Us in São Paulo Now

Of course, we must continue completing our paperwork. When that is done, we will be much freer to move up north. Also, Julie is still in language school, and we dare not interrupt or shorten that. Communication is key as a missionary.

Primarily, these two factors keep us in São Paulo. There is also one other--God's timing. We want to know when He wants us to move north. Currently, we are prayerfully considering how we might be of help to the missionaries and nationals in this city. They would like to see the education of preachers better facilitated. Since my background includes curriculum development and Bible college education, I do not want to miss a God-given opportunity, if this is one. It may be that God would have me get things going here to some degree, before our departure.

Finally, there are a good number of missionaries here who have some connections to missionaries up north; it may be that God will open a strategic door between them. If so, we would love to see friendships strengthened in our time here before heading north. If so, our presence in São Paulo will be lengthened to some indefinite degree. God knows; we are looking to Him.

Update :: Dec 16 2011 ::

Julie and I have both completed language school. What a blessing those teachers were to us! Now, we daily put into practice what we learned and are constantly adding to it.

We are currently taking care of a church in São Paulo, and plan to stay here until May of 2012, unless God directs differently. In a marvelous way, this dear group of people blessed us. We are wanting to minister to them, but their real-life situations are such an education for us. As so many before us have said, Bible college is a great thing, but there is nothing that compares to putting your own hands to the plow and doing the work yourself.

The church here is simply called São Paulo Baptist Church. Our first service was August 18^th, 2011. Missionary Juan Vallejo (from Mexico) with his wife, Amy, (an American) and their five children had to take a furlough, because she was experiencing health trouble. We have also learned that she is expecting twins, a boy and a girl! (They call that a couple here in Brazil.) She is due to be delivered in February. Please pray for them.

In the meantime, we are living in their home, pastoring their church, keeping them in our prayers and continuing to make plans for our ministry up north in Porto Velho, Rondônia, Brazil.

On February 29th, 2012, we have our last scheduled meeting with the Federal Police. This meeting, we trust, will complete all our paperwork, and from that point we are free to move northward. Please pray that this process is not impeded in anyway.

Always feel free to contact us if you ever want an update on our ministry, or you would like to receive our prayer letter. We work to have it out monthly.

Born a Missionary

As I read the words of Jeremiah, I am reminded that God has a very special plan for my life. God called my parents, Garry and Pam Tyler, to be missionaries in Brazil. About three years after their arrival, I was born in the city of São José do Rio Preto. God orchestrated everything so that I would be born in the wonderful country of Brazil.

Benefits of Birth Abroad

When God allowed me to be born in Brazil, He gave me a special opportunity. I am a dual citizen and can come and go between the US and Brazil as I please. Because I am a Brazilian citizen, my children are also. My wife, though not a citizen, received a permanent residency visa before we ever moved to Brazil.

Another benefit of being born in Brazil was that I have spoken the Portuguese language since I was very small. Though my grammar may not be the best, the Lord has allowed me to integrate with the culture and understand more about the people. As a child, the majority of my friends were Brazilians, and I spent many days in the homes of the Brazilian people.

Raised by Godly Parents

My parents were always involved in the work of the Lord. Looking back, I do not believe they did this because they were missionaries but primarily because they loved the Lord. I grew up serving in the church and helping in any way possible. When everyone else had gone home, I was always there helping put the chairs back into place and cleaning things up.

My parents not only allowed me the opportunity to serve in church, but they raised me to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. From daily devotions to a life lived for others, they taught me that there was nothing more important than my relationship with God. Even when problems come my way, people criticize, financial resources are limited, and there is very little fruit for the labor invested, I learned from them to be "steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord."

Salvation

At the age of 13, I finally realized where I was spiritually. I was lost and headed for hell. Though I had been taught all the right things and had been raised in a wonderful home, I still had relied on good works to get me to Heaven. I was a good boy! I tried to do the right things! I knew all the answers! But God, through His Holy Spirit pricked my heart and allowed me to realize I was a sinner and needed Christ to become my Savior. While sitting in my room one afternoon, I bowed my head and asked the Lord to save me from my sins. Praise the Lord! I was then sensitive to His leading in my life.

Learning to Give My Life

As a teenager I began witnessing to people and telling them about Jesus. Every week I would go out with my friends or with adults in the church and hand out tracts and invite people to church. By the age of 14, I was brave enough to start giving out the plan of salvation to people who were total strangers. This was a wonderful experience. It helped me learn to study my Bible in order to be ready to give an answer, and also helped me learn how to articulate the Gospel message.

My daily walk with the Lord was continually developing. I learned to meditate on preaching and teaching, and to find the answers to satisfy my questions in the Bible. I learned to praise the Lord for who He was. Everything I knew about God became more personal as I developed a more intimate relationship with Him.

Adapting to a New Culture

Because I had lived for nearly 17 years in Brazil, it was a struggle to return to the United States. My family was on furlough and I began my senior year of high school at the Temple Baptist Academy in Powell, TN. I had very few friends. Because of my culture, people laughed at me. My strange actions and sayings set me apart from those in my class.

As a teenager I had given my life to the Lord, but during this time the Lord changed my mind about my future. My plans were to study music and develop that area of ministry. However, I had now been attending the Temple Baptist Church for several months. I loved Pastor and Mrs. Sexton and I could not pull myself from the church. Though originally I had no intentions of going to college there, the Lord worked in my heart and gave me a love for the church and school.

I did not know exactly what the Lord had for me. He was teaching me and I was learning to follow His leading in my life. I gave up my goals of studying music at a school that had a great music program to stay at the church where I was learning so much. I enrolled in Crown College with a major in music ministry.

A Godly Wife

Soon after I began college, the Lord brought across my path a beautiful young lady, Amanda. We both played in the college orchestra and quickly became good friends. Soon we began dating.

In 2000, I decided to ask her to make a visit with me to Brazil. She agreed! On this trip I saw her willingness to serve the Lord and her desire to do whatever God wanted. She was willing to move out of the country if it was the Lord's will.

It was also on this trip to Brazil that we were engaged to be married. On June 16, 2001, God gave me a beautiful bride. I walked the aisle happily knowing that God was in all of it.

Future Plans

After being married, we became well aware that the Lord would lead us back to Brazil. I still had another year of college to finish. We wondered when God would move us to Brazil, but we never received a clear answer. Our desire was to do the Lord's will, but His timing was our main concern in it all.

Providence Has Its Way

When I graduated from college, Pastor Sexton asked me to teach music at the Temple Baptist Academy. Amanda was already working for Crown College as a secretary, so it was easy for me to accept the job. It was a great opportunity to learn.

It was at this time that Amanda and I met John and Julie Kokenzie. I had grown up in Brazil and the Lord had called John to be a missionary there. We had not previously known each other, but God saw fit that we would meet at the Temple Baptist Church, under the influence of Dr. Clarence Sexton, and have a burden for the same people.

God's Ways Are Perfect

At that time, I was not convinced that my calling was missions, but nevertheless I still had a love for Brazil and the Brazilians. I was talking much about Brazil and when we might head there. However, God had not given me a desire to quit teaching and I enjoyed what I was doing. In church and staff meetings I was learning much from Pastor Sexton, and while at school, I was learning much from Dwayne Hickman and other influences in my life.

When we started talking about Brazil and wanting to return, several people wanted us to come work with them. We began dreaming and praying about what God would want us to do in the country of Brazil.

John and I began soul-winning together every Saturday. We spent many hours speaking to people about the Lord. The Lord blessed our visits and many people were saved. As we became more acquainted with each other, the Lord worked in our hearts to give us the same burden. This burden was not ministry in Brazil, but it was a burden to know God better. We began praying together on Friday nights. God was working in our hearts and we were sensitive to His leading.

A Fire Lit In Our Hearts

In 2003 we began talking about a trip to Brazil. John and I discussed the possibilities of taking a trip to help some missionaries and their churches. We scheduled the trip for the summer of 2004. God allowed us to travel to Brazil for almost eight weeks that summer.

In those eight weeks, we helped a missionary who was planting a church, helped with a vacation Bible school in another church, and participated in a music camp for children in another church. John preached over fifteen times and I preached over twenty times. What an exciting time it was!

We can only give God the glory for all that was done. We saw many people come to the Lord and trust Him as Savior. In all the ministries we were involved in that summer, nearly 100 people trusted the Lord as their Savior! God used this to light a fire in our hearts that would not soon be quenched.

A Biblical View of Missions

As I continued teaching in the Temple Baptist Academy, I began reading some books about missions. God started working in my heart to give me a Biblical view of missions. It was during this time I learned that I must heavily rely on the Holy Spirit to do a work through me. Previously I was relying on my own wits and knowledge to get me by.

Studying about missions gave me an ever increasing desire to see God work in Brazil. Because of our recent trip to Brazil and what God had done there, God worked in my heart to show me that He wanted me to be a missionary. As I surrendered to His will He began to make things clear to me. I had many questions, but He continued giving me answers and assuring me that His will was best.

Paul and Barnabas

One of the great things that my wife and I learned about missions was the importance of working together with others. As we studied the lives of great missionaries and compared them to people like Paul and Barnabas, God showed us that He had placed John and Julie Kokenzie into our lives for a specific purpose, and the Lord gave us peace about our partnership.

The Fear of Deputation

After talking to many different missionaries, I have realized that most missionaries go through a stage of questioning how to go about things. We think about finances and how we will support our families. We wonder if deputation is really necessary. We evaluate the need to call hundreds of churches and pastors. Many debate how long they will stay on deputation, when they will go full-time, or in what states they would do their deputation. For each question that came to my mind, the Lord constantly reminded me that I should just trust Him. I did not need answers to all my questions. I simply needed to trust Him.

Beginning Our Ministry

At the end of 2006 we talked to Pastor Sexton about preparing to start deputation. He was in favor of our decision and said he would help us in any way possible. After more talk and planning, God showed us that the Temple Baptist Church would be our sending church.

We began deputation in June of 2007. By the end of May we had only three meetings scheduled. Though we lacked meetings, we were not idle by any means. When we went to a meeting, we tried our best to help the pastor in any way possible. We made visits and went soul-winning when we could. The Lord showed us that we needed to be busy on deputation doing the same things we would be doing in Brazil.

This led to me volunteering to help several pastors knock doors before they started their churches. When I met a pastor who was starting a church, I volunteered to take a few of my free weeks to help them. The Lord blessed this work and many people were saved and many became a part of the churches that were started.

Beginning A Work In Portuguese

In mid 2007 John brought up the suggestion of starting a Christian literature website for the Portuguese language. I thought the idea was good, but I had no idea how it would be accomplished. John did not build websites and I had never worked on a website and had no idea how one worked. The Lord had all of this planned. We soon met Mark Scansen, a man with much knowledge about websites. He was able to set us up and get us going on a system that was fairly simple to set up though very powerful under the hood.

As we began building the website we found that it was not going to be a literature website as much as a Gospel website. This of course was of the Lord. We envisioned having something to strengthen believers while God envisioned us reaching the lost through this website. This first website www.conhecendodeus.com.br was born in the beginning of 2008.

My Portuguese was greatly challenged as John handed me document after document to translate. I had been out of Brazil for more than ten years and my Portuguese was very rusty. I translated things to the best of my ability at the time. God blessed the work and people started visiting the website.

Return to Brazil

By the end of 2008 we were ready to get to the field. We started making plans for our departure and the Lord began opening the necessary doors for us to be able to leave the country. May God be praised for all His wonderful works during this time!

In March of 2009 we packed our container full of our belongings. The long awaited goodbyes were said and we headed to Brazil. When we landed on the first day of April, we prayed that God would supply our needs and help us find a house, vehicle and other items that were needed. We were not disappointed with God's goodness as He led us every step of the way and provided for every need.

Goals for the Mission Field

God called us to a region of the country that is centrally located in the continent of South America. This area is the state of Rondônia, just south of the Amazon on the western side of Brazil. This area has relative ease of entrance into Spanish speaking countries nearby and there is also access to Indian tribes all over the area.

God burdened our hearts for this area because of the need to mobilize and equip Brazilian laborers to do what God has called them to do. It is our desire to guard our work so that everything we do is reproducible. We will never win the country of Brazil for Christ without the help of hundreds of laborers.

Though our main goals are to evangelize the lost, establish churches, edify the believers, and then entrust them to the Lord, we also know that preparation must take place in order to accomplish all that God has for us in the future. This would include language studies, adaptation to the culture, gaining a basic knowledge of the beliefs and religions in Brazil as well as getting acquainted with many national pastors and missionaries already at work in the country.

The First Thirty Months In Brazil

After our arrival in Brazil we spent a good amount of time getting used to the culture and getting back into the language. However, it did not take long for several missionaries and pastors to invite me to their churches to preach. This has led to many opportunities to meet pastors and get acquainted with other works in Brazil.

Amanda spent ten months in language school and graduated with great applause and admiration from the teachers. She has become fluent with the language and can converse well with others at church and in the stores as she makes necessary purchases for our family.

Our children have done well with the language also. Though it was difficult for them at first, it did not take long for them to adapt and start using what little Portuguese they could speak. The people at churches we visited were very kind and enjoyed helping the boys learn more Portuguese.

During the first year in the country, my primary goal was to help my wife and care for my children as she was gone for nearly five hours a day at language school. Between visiting churches, studying to preach, meeting with different pastors, and continuing work on the already present websites, we managed to stay quite busy.

Around the time Amanda finished language school, the Lord put a burden on my heart to help churches and missionaries here in Brazil. I began to study the possibilities of developing websites for churches and missionaries. In April of 2010 I began a test run on a hosting service that would help churches here in Brazil get an online presence. I did not know how many churches I could handle, or if the task was too great.

I am no expert on websites, but because of difficulties with our own websites, I was forced to try and solve our problems. As I began solving problems, I learned how one could build quite extensive websites in a simple way. I enjoyed this and began working on testing a few sites. Soon I dove into a hosting service and began helping several churches who had already asked us for help. The work load would be impossible to handle if I had a large number of churches, so I began with just a few.

In the midst of website building, John and I were exploring the literature resources available in Brazil and Portuguese speaking countries. Though we found many good things, they were almost choked to death by the thousands of other volumes that were of no good. We met with several publishers to discuss the possibilities of working with them. This lead to a friendship with Jim King and the Editora Maranata, and independent Baptist publishing company.

We began helping Bro. King work on a project to get his monthly paper out to pastors and laypeople all over the country at a reduced price. In January of 2011 we were able to put the paper up online for no charge. Now, thousands of people can receive this monthly paper at no charge.

God also put in our hearts the desire to publish our own literature. In April of 2011 we launched the first edition of a publication we called the Herança Cristã - Christian Heritage. While doing this we also began a website specifically for housing Christian literature. This website is www.conhecendoabiblia.com.br.

Present Ministry

Though all of these things have kept us busy, we know that they are just tools to help us train and equip the Brazilians to reach the lost for Christ. The Lord has taught us many things that have helped us mature in our spiritual lives and strengthen our faith in Him. We have passed through very difficult times during the past few years. Yet, the Lord proved Himself faithful to us in every situation. Many experiences have made us more aware of what God was doing in our lives. Never should we doubt His leading or His hand in our lives.

In the beginning of 2011 we began a prayer meeting with pastors from the area. Every Monday night pastors and missionaries are gathering together in São Paulo for a time of prayer. The purpose of this prayer meeting is to seek the Lord for revival. What a great blessing it is to see pastors on their faces every week asking God to send revival to Brazil.

Phase Two!

We are soon planning to move to Rondônia. Lord willing we will be there by February of 2012. This will begin phase two for us.

What does phase two consist of? It consists of very active church planting endeavors. We will use many of the resources we have already developed and will continue to develop, but the majority of our time and efforts will be spent soul-winning, discipling, and planting churches all over the area.

Please continue to pray for laborers. What the Lord has called us to do will not be accomplished without many laborers. Also pray that we would continue to grow in the Lord and trust Him in every step of the way!

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